Witness: Peace envoy Kofi Annan arrives in Damascus

DAMASCUS - International peace envoy Kofi Annan arrived in Damascus on Sunday, a Reuters witness said, a day after admitting that his peace plan had so far failed to end 16 months of bloodshed.

Annan arrived with deputy Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad at the Dama Rose hotel in the capital, where United Nations observers have been staying since suspending their patrols because of a steep increase in the level of violence.